Jesus Hates Hypocrisy
Even More Than You Do!
Part 2 – Hypocrisy Blocks the Way to Heaven
Matthew 23:13-15
October 26, 2008
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me/We:
I asked last week if any of you like hypocrites.
I also pointed out that from time to time all of us have been hypocrites, myself included.
And probably most of us have had someone say to us that they won’t consider Jesus because the Church is too full of hypocrites.
Sales trainer and Christian author Zig Ziglar has something he says to people who tell him that. He says, “Well don’t let that stop you – there’s always room for one more!”
So how do we respond to people who point out the hypocrisy in the church and use that as an excuse to reject Jesus?
Part of the answer lies in telling them what I’m trying to communicate through this series of messages: that Jesus hates hypocrisy more than they do.
And part of the answer lies in examining ourselves to see if we’re harboring the things Jesus talks about in our passage today.
It’s not enough to have a verbal answer ready. We need to have lives that display humility and a willingness to adjust our own attitudes and actions for the sake of others who don’t know Christ.
God: Jesus continues to rail against the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, who in just three short days would cry out for His death.
And in this whole chapter you can hear His passion for truth and how the hypocrisy is keeping people from it.
Today we look at the first two of seven “woes” that Jesus pronounces against the Pharisees as we study Jesus’ attitude toward the hypocrites.
Matthew 23:13-15 (p, 700) –
13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”
I want to spend some time covering a few of the things that are touched on in these passages, but my goal isn’t to just give you information that you can tuck away somewhere and go, “Oh hey – that’s nice. I’ll keep that in mind the next time I play Bible Trivia.”
My hope is that in seeing what Jesus points out here you’ll want to avoid these mistakes, because as you see here, it can mean the difference between heaven and hell for somebody.
So that’s where the majority of my remarks will be centered today.
I want to start off by mentioning that in some of your Bibles, the verses go from 13 to 15 without a 14. Some Bibles have verse 14, which reads –
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be punished more severely.”
Why is this not in there in the version we’re reading from, the New International Version? Is it because the translators of the New International Version and others just didn’t like verse?
No, that’s not it. The fact of the matter is that this verse does not appear in the best of the ancient manuscripts of the gospel of Matthew. Therefore, it is their learned opinion that someone copying the gospel may have inserted that verse.
So it’s not that the translators were mathematically challenged and couldn’t count from 13 to 15 correctly, okay?
Let’s take a moment and look this word, “Woe.”
It’s generally used to express grief, regret, or distress (Merriam-Webster). You might have heard the phrase, “Woe is me!” when talking about how bad they’ve got it at the moment.
In this passage, the word “woe” is used for a couple purposes.
The first was to point out the miserable condition the Pharisees had come to. They had become self-appointed guardians of the Kingdom of God, but their standards were based more on their desire for conformity to their rules than on the Word of God.
The second use Jesus has for this word is to pronounce the fact that they are under judgment. (NIVAC)
But let’s look at what Jesus is getting after them for. What is it He’s “woe-ing” them about?
Verse 13 tells us that the first thing was that they were keeping people from entering the Kingdom of God. They did this by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah and emphasizing their man-made rules for keeping the Law of Moses.
This locked people out of the kingdom by not allowing them to find Christ.
Anyone who might have gotten into the Kingdom through a saving relationship with Jesus was stopped by these Pharisees. They made God seem impossible to please, his commands impossible to obey, and so the Kingdom became an impossible goal. (LACNT)
Jesus came to save people. He came so that people like you and me could have forgiveness and a home in heaven. He came to die to make that possible.
And yet the people charged with the spiritual care of Israel were actively working to keep people from that. Is it any wonder Jesus is upset here?
The second thing Jesus is “woe-ing” them about is the fact that these religious teachers and Pharisees were guilty of corrupting their own converts, who were attracted to status and rule keeping, not to God.
By getting caught up in the details of the Pharisees’ additional laws and regulations, they completely missed God, to whom the laws pointed in the first place.
You see, a religion of deeds pressures people to surpass others in what they know and do.
So a hypocritical teacher is likely to have students who were even more hypocritical. And when the ones doing the converting are themselves children of hell, then their converts will likely meet the same end. (LACNT)
The Pharisees where closing the door to Jesus, but opening the door to be just like them.
But listen and hear me clearly:
Jesus hates the hypocrisy in the Church as much as He hated it in the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.
You: What can we do to avoid getting into the errors of this “woe-full” crowd of hypocrites?
I’d like to suggest four ways. Actually they’re four “prays.”
1. Ask God to show you anything in your life that is keeping others from finding Christ.
Dani gave her life to Christ at a concert when she was about 15.
She grew up in a Christian home. Naturally I was thrilled that she had given her life to Christ, but I had to ask myself if there was anything in my life that had kept her from doing it much earlier in life. And I had to ask her.
So I asked if there was anything she saw in my life that had shut the door up to that point.
Being the good kid she is, she said no. So I decided she could still live with us.
Is there anything in your life that prevents people finding Christ like the Pharisees?
It might be a bad attitude. It might be that your business practices might be a little closer to the edge of being unethical than they need to be. They might be legal, but do they reflect Christ?
Maybe it’s the way you act in the restaurant. I came across this true story:
There he stood, in the midst of the Golden Corral restaurant, with Thousand Island dressing dripping from his hair, over his glasses, down his face, all over his jacket, pants, & shoes.
And I’m not talking about a little bit of Thousand Island dressing, I’m talking about 2 gallons of it! What had happened was that a waitress carrying a 2-gallon container of Thousand Island dressing for the salad bar had paused for just a second while coming through the swinging doors of the kitchen, & the doors had caught her & knocked her forward, launching 2 gallons of dressing all over this guy.
Well, he went ballistic! He started shouting & cursing at her. “You’re so stupid! I can’t believe you could do such a stupid, stupid thing. This is a brand new suit & it cost me $300.” His wife chimed in, “Yeah, you’ve ruined my husband’s $300 suit, & it’s the first time he’s had a chance to wear it.” He screamed, “I want to see the manager!” Thoroughly shaken, she went to get the manager, & the manager came out.
Now picture this – here’s a guy with 2 gallons of Thousand Island dressing dripping from him, & the manager asks, “Is there a problem?” (That’s my kinda guy!)
The man replies, “Is there a problem? She’s ruined my $300 suit. It’s brand new, & I want a new suit!” The manager says, “We’ll be glad to get your suit cleaned. Accidents do happen, & we’re really sorry about this.”
“No! No!” he said. “I don’t want my suit cleaned. I want a brand new suit, & I demand a check for $300 right here & now.” Well, to avoid a bigger scene, the manger goes back into his office, writes out a check for $300 & brings it to him. And justice is served.
Tragically, this true story happened at noon on a Sunday. Now, why would someone be wearing a brand new suit on Sunday? Do you suppose he had been to church? (SermonCentral.com, contributed by Melvin Newland)
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be upset about getting your clothes dirty. But there are Christlike ways to handle things like that and there are not-Christlike ways to handle them.
Which do you think this guy’s way was?
A second way to avoid the errors of the “woeful” and hypocritical Pharisees is to…
2. Ask God if you are more concerned with helping someone become a solid “Wesleyan” (or any other denomination) rather than a solid Christian.
Now I’m of the opinion that the Wesleyan Church is one of the best avenues for helping a person find eternal life in Jesus and become a solid disciple of His.
I’ve grown in my own walk with Christ through my involvement in the Wesleyan Church. I love the Wesleyan Church.
But Jesus said we’re supposed to go and make disciples – not “go and make Wesleyans.”
I want this church to grow, and I pray that within the next few years, most of our growth will come from those whom we’ve led to Christ through our personal relationships and the ministries of the church.
I know some people who think that if they can help someone be able to explain things like “entire sanctification,” “consecration,” and the “Wesley Quadrilateral” that then that person is a good disciple of Jesus.
Do you even know what the “Wesley Quadrilateral” is? If you really want to know I’ll show you after the service.
In my opinion all that does is make someone a good disciple of the denomination, and not necessarily a good disciple of Jesus.
Hard to hear? Sorry. But a person can have a ton of head knowledge about the Wesleyan Church and what we’re all about, but if it doesn’t help them live for Jesus, it doesn’t matter.
In CLASS 101 (this Saturday!), we talk about what the Wesleyan Church is about, and what we believe. But the emphasis of the class isn’t head knowledge.
It’s about committing yourself to live for Jesus within this community of believers.
And it’s just true that some Christians will grow stronger and serve more effectively in other churches. That doesn’t bother me in the least.
Why? Because I’m more interested in making disciples than about making Wesleyans.
The third way to avoid the errors of the “woeful” and hypocritical Pharisees is to…
3. Ask God to give you a heart that breaks over the fact that people are missing out on heaven because of the false images portrayed by so-called “Christian” people.
I told you last week about how Gandhi rejected Christ because of all the Christians around him. In fact, I found last week that he had tried to attend a Christian church, but was refused entrance.
How shameful. If I ever find out that anyone here did that, you can expect a visit from me. How dare we think that we can turn people away if they want to hear about Jesus?
In the book, “unChristian,” by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman, non-Christians aged 16-29 years old were asked, “What is your current perception of Christianity?”
91% said antihomosexual
87% said judgmental
85% said hypocritical
78% said old-fashioned
75% said too involved in politics
72% said out of touch with reality
70% said insensitive to others
68% said boring
64% said not accepting of other faiths
61% said confusing
Now unfortunately, all of these things are true in the Church of Jesus Christ. There are plenty of people who are all of these things.
Some of you here today are in this age group, and I’ll bet my last dollar that you’ve seen much of this.
And I’m also willing to bet that you know someone who isn’t willing to give Jesus a chance because they’ve seen these things in people who call themselves Christians.
I know people my age who have the same reaction.
We can have three different reactions to this.
We can say, “Hey, you know what? Tough cookies. If they don’t like me, that’s their problem. Jesus said the world would hate us, so what should I care what they think? Besides, Paul said that the gospel is offensive, so no big surprise here.”
The problem with that thinking is that while it’s true that the gospel is offensive in that it points out our sinfulness and need of a Savior, there is nothing in Scripture that says we’re supposed to be offensive.
In fact, Scripture says the exact opposite. Scripture says that our speech and conduct are supposed to be gracious and not harsh. We’re supposed to gently instruct those who oppose us, not yell at them.
And it says that leaders in the church are supposed to be those who have a good reputation with those outside the church.
Does that describe you? I hope so.
We can also say, “Well, they’re not supposed to look at us because we’re flawed. They need to look at Jesus.”
Nice thought, but the fact is that people do look at you, and Scripture says that because of this fact, we need to be people who are Christlike in attitude and action.
Scripture doesn’t let us off the hook for our flaws – it says we need to do something about them. Like asking the Holy Spirit to grow His fruit in our lives.
And the fruit in our lives can draw others to Christ.
The third way we can react to this is to say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It’s recognizing that we’ve put ourselves on a pedestal, and allowed our outward religiosity to define who we are and how we impact our society.
And it’s recognizing that it may very well cost someone their soul, because what they saw in me or you caused them to refuse Christ.
Is your heart broken over this? If not, ask God to break it, like He has mine and others.
The fourth way to avoid the errors of the “woeful” and hypocritical Pharisees is to…
4. Ask God to give you the opportunity and the words to help someone see past the hypocrisy they’ve encountered so they can really find Christ for themselves.
I don’t think I need to say much here. You get the idea.
People need to see past the garbage so they can see the reality of Christ.
And it could be that God has put you in their life for just that reason.
Be prepared to share the good news with people. But understand that part of that preparation is allowing the Holy Spirit to live and work in you so that you avoid the trap of hypocrisy and reflect Jesus in every area of your life.
We: I’ve kinda hammered on the fact that hypocrisy in the Church of Jesus is rampant around the world.
But here’s what I think: I think that beginning with this fellowship of believers, this part of the Christian church, we can start to change those perceptions.
I believe that if you and I as individuals will commit ourselves to being people who are intentional about being not hypocritical, but authentic people who love Jesus and strive to live for Him, we can start showing people that Jesus is real in spite of the hypocrites.
They can start seeing that while we’re still flawed, we truly love Jesus and want others to know Him like we do.
And then they can see Jesus for who He really is – not hidden in the cloaks of the hypocrites.
So whattya say we decide to go against the grain of society’s view of the church and live up to Jesus’ view of who we’re supposed to be.
I believe that if we’ll do that, we’ll see what the early church saw in the book of Acts – thousands of people coming to Christ and living for Him.
Whattya say? I say let’s pray.
